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FIBA ambassador Luis Scola, US rapper Saweetie to banner FIBA World Cup Draw 2023

April 24, 2023 3:51 p.m.

The world’s biggest basketball tournament is about to unfold in Manila at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, with basketball legend Luis Scola gracing the much-anticipated draw with performances by American rapper Saweetie, Sarah Geronimo, and Billy Crawford this Saturday, April 29 at the Smart Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.

Scola has won multiple medals as a member of the national men’s basketball team of Argentina. He played for Argentina’s national squad from 2001 until 2019, winning two silver medals at the FIBA World Championships, one each in 2002 and during his final tournament in 2019 at the age of 39. During the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship tournament, Scola became the all-time leading scorer in FIBA AmeriCup history and won his 4th tournament MVP.

On the live performance side, Saweetie is an American rapper who made a name for herself by rhyming over iconic tracks, giving a nod to those who came before while building her own catalog of fiery hits such as “My Type,” “Tap In,” and “Best Friend,” a collaboration with Doja Cat.  

Meanwhile pop superstars Sarah Geronimo and Billy Crawford are expected to represent the Filipino side at the international event happening on Saturday, 7:30 at the Big Dome. 

Ranked #40 in the world, the Philippines has gained an outright berth in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Games by being one of the host nations alongside Japan and Indonesia. This is the sixth time that the Philippines is playing on the world stage, and its second time as host nation following its hosting in 1978 where it finished in the top eight.

As a FIBA global partner, Smart is going all-out for the FIBAWC 2023 Draw Event as anticipation reaches a new high with all the 32 qualified nations receiving their country assignments during the spectacle. This year’s much-anticipated FIBA draw will finally announce the matchups and finalize which countries will be playing in the Philippines, giving Pinoy basketball fans time to plan which games and basketball greats they wish to see live in action.

Catch Ben&Ben live and win prizes from Smart at ‘FIBA in Manila’ in BGC

Basketball fans can also join the all-day festival party, “FIBA in Manila,” at BGC Uptown area, corner of 9th Avenue and 36th Street in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) from 10 am onwards, also on April 29.

Ben&Ben’s performance at the “FIBA in Manila” will be streamed live via Smart’s official Facebook page at 2pm.

Never miss a moment with the Smart LiveStream App

Smart subscribers can get hyped with non-stop FIBA basketball action by catching all the exciting happenings and the games, including those played in the previous windows, via the Smart Livestream App. 

Using the app, fans can catch every minute of live basketball action at the 2023 FIBAWC from Aug. 25 to Sept. 10.

The Smart LiveStream app is downloadable on the App Store and the Google Play Store, and subscribers will only need to enter a valid Smart Prepaid or Postpaid mobile number to enjoy all the sports action.

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Kick off your UEFA EURO 2024 adventure and watch games live with GCash

6:06 p.m. March 15, 2024

GCash, the Philippines’ top finance app, joins forces with Alipay+ to bring an exciting opportunity for Filipino football fans to take part in this year’s UEFA EURO 2024. As the premier football tournament kicks off once again, GCash is making it possible for you to witness the action live with the launch of its new raffle promo. GCash is a partner of Alipay+, which is the exclusive Official Payment Partner of UEFA EURO 2024.

Captivating millions of fans globally each year, the UEFA EURO 2024 tournament is set to take place from 14 June to 14 July 2024 across ten iconic host cities in Germany, including Berlin, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, and Stuttgart.

By simply using GCash to pay, whether locally or internationally, users can earn raffle tickets and get the chance to experience the thrill of watching the UEFA EURO 2024 games live in Germany.

According to Paul Vincent Albano, General Manager for GCash International, “We are delighted to announce our partnership, together with Alipay+, the exclusive Official Payment Partner of UEFA EURO 2024, a collaboration that celebrates a shared passion and commitment to connecting with Filipino football fans. With GCash, users can unlock opportunities for more enriching experiences, and having the chance to attend the biggest sporting event of the year is just one of the ways we make this possible for our users. Through Alipay+, Filipino fans can pay at thousands of retail stores, F&B outlets and attractions across Germany and Europe, simply with GCash.”

GCash is now available internationally, through its partnership with Alipay+, ensuring seamless transactions for users even while they’re abroad. Through its Scan-To-Pay feature, users can enjoy hassle-free payments with zero service fees at millions of merchants worldwide, including restaurants, grocery stores, retail shops, and more!

The benefits of paying with GCash extends to gaining access to exclusive discounts and promos, including the opportunity to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Germany for UEFA EURO 2024. From March 1 to April 30, GCash users can earn raffle entries for every complete payment transaction made with Scan-To-Pay.

Payments made abroad earns users 10 raffle entries, while transactions within the Philippines earn one raffle entry each. The official winners’ draw will take place on May 4, 2024 with 16 lucky GCash users 2 winning tickets, giving them & their friends who love football the chance to watch the games with them!

Be part of football history and don’t miss out on the chance to witness Europe’s top nations in action this year. For more information and updates on the UEFA EURO 2024 promo, visit the GCash website or follow GCash online through @gcashofficial.

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How to watch NSFW/NSFL content safely and discreetly

February 12, 2024 1:55 p.m.

Want to hide your guilty pleasures from prying eyes? Do it properly, suggests Kaspersky experts

You may have already heard about NSFW (not-safe-for-work) or NSFL (not-safe-for-life) and what it means to your self-preservation or at the very least, your reputation. 

If you’re still clueless, it refers to online content that is best viewed in private. Examples would be medications you take, gifts you were checking out for your loved ones and sensitive videos you watched before bed.  

“The kind and amount of information that we can now access through the internet is almost limitless. And many of us are happy to do things online. On the flipside, our research shows some prefer to keep those habits to themselves. In fact, many see the Internet as a place to hide,” said Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky. 

In a study by Kaspersky on digital privacy, almost half of respondents (41%) said they apply additional measures when browsing the Internet to hide their information from the websites they visit. The same study revealed that family members, colleagues and the government are the top three groups of people we don’t want to know certain things about us. 

“With online content at our fingertips, people will read and watch online whatever they want to. Whichever it is, we recommend doing it safely. Remember your digital reputation is closely linked to your personal reputation. With a stroke of unfortunate luck, your online habit or personal information can accidentally become available to others, despite your wishes. Not only would it make you a target of malware but it could end up costing you your job,” added Yeo. 

This article explains who can catch sight of your online activities and how to make sure your secrets are safe.

  1. Your family

You likely share a computer and a Wifi network with your family. This means your partner, kids, or parents—anyone you share a home with—could discover traces of your online activities. Here are what could give you away:

  • Browser history It remembers the websites you visit and suggests them the next time you want to visit one of them. It can come in handy but can lead to some awkward moments like if your partner or your child types in the letter P (for Pinterest) and gets a suggestion for P(ornhub). 
  • Targeted advertising When you open a website, the browser saves cookie files on your computer, which allows the site to remember things about you (like your username, pages you viewed, contents of your shopping cart, etc). They also give ad network-partners of the website’s owner information about you for suggesting similar content. The giants of the Web, such as Google, will not show erotic banners, of course. But less-scrupulous ad networks may. 

Tip: It’s best to go into incognito mode before watching private videos, to avoid embarrassment later. Using it avoids leaving browsing traces for your family to discover. Some browsers such as Yandex.Browser will suggest it if you open a porn site. By running in incognito mode, your browser stores no cookies and no search history. Your family will see none of those treacherous suggestions in the address bar.

As for the cookies and browser history you have already accumulated, clear them. Open the browser’s settings: In Chrome, for example, the option will be visible immediately, and in Firefox, you will need to go to the Privacy & Security tab.

  1. Internet giants

Cookies are not the only way to find out about your interests, so incognito mode will not hide information about your hobbies from big Internet corporations. Facebook will still learn about the things you like if you visit websites that are integrated with its analytics and advertising modules — and you would not believe how many of those are around. 

Google will still remember what you searched for and what sites you opened in Chrome. This year, Pornhub revealed that the Philippines topped its website viewership for the fourth consecutive year. The website shared that they’ve monitored getting more female viewers than male viewers in the country through the demographics data tracking of Google Analytics.

Tip: Fortunately, not all companies want to collect all of the data they can about you. Privacy-centric browsers like Firefox and search engines such as DuckDuckGo and Startpage.com, along with the Private Browsing feature in Kaspersky products can help prevent tracking by advertising networks and Internet giants. 

  1. Your ISP

Few will pause to think that their ISP, as well as the owner of the free Wi-Fi they are using, can monitor their traffic. We suggest you put some safety measures in place, which is not nearly as hard as it may sound, unless you like the thought of your passions becoming some mischievous ISP employee’s source of entertainment.

Tip: Use a secure connection like a VPN (virtual private network) to dodge those whose curiosity gets the better of them. Doing so will encrypt your traffic so strongly that the ISP will see nothing but gibberish.

  1. Porn scammers

Scammers who email you saying they have infected your computer with malware and used a Web camera to make a video of your naughty pleasures really have no idea if you have been watching porn or not. They are simply mass-mailing their threats in the hope that someone will bite. 

Tip: Do not fret. Never pay scammers who claim to have caught you watching adult content. If you receive an email like that, send it straight to spam.

Remember safety measures

Although the creators of well-known porn websites protect their reputations, it is not impossible to get your device infected while searching for adult videos. From time to time, cybercriminals hack networks that display ads on such websites or attempt to pass off a fake.

The malware is unlikely to hack your webcam, but it may very well block your screen with an explicit picture or start displaying gobs of explicit ads in your browser. So, remember these safety measures.

  1. Choose websites you know. Avoid opening questionable websites from search results that promise premium content free.
  2. Download apps from official sources only.
  3. Do not click on links in ads, even if they are hard to resist.
  4. Use a robust protective solution such as Kaspersky Premium. It will block a malicious program, should one attempt to infect your device. 
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Celebrate Chinese New Year at Honolulu Cafe

February 10, 2024 5:34 p.m.

Celebrate Chinese New Year at Honolulu Cafe.

Try their best- seller Roasted Pork Belly and Egg Tarts.

Roasted Pork Belly
Egg tarts

Honolulu Cafe located at SM Aura, Robinson’s Place Manila and Greenbelt 5.

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